the professionals
by ShadowsTakeAll
Summary: An undercover operation goes wrong, leaving Kensi and Deeks in trouble... again.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi everyone. I'm new to the fandom, having marathon-watched every season over the space of a couple of months, so this is my first fic for NCIS: LA. It's set somewhere toward the end of season five, after the whole Afghanistan arc. I'm very much a Densi shipper and just wanted to play around with their characters for a bit, so this seemed like a good way to do it. I do have a couple of longer fics developing in the back of my mind, so depending on how this first foray into the fandom goes I may well be back with a multi-chapter fic at some point. We'll see.**

 **Before we get to the fic, I want to thank canaussie for acting as a beta reader. Your feedback was very encouraging and very much appreciated, so thank you so much for that.** **  
This was meant to be a one-shot but I think it's slightly too long, coming from an unknown author, so I've split it into two. The next chapter will be up very soon, and in the meantime I'd love to hear your thoughts so please fave, follow, review; you know the drill. See you next time!  
**

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It's a routine assignment. Their covers are deeper than usual, made necessary by the expected length of the case ("anywhere from three to six months" they were told, "but definitely no longer than a year"), but their aliases are easy enough to play: the wily Arabella and her hot-headed boyfriend Charlie, up-and-coming guns-for-hire who want to take out the biggest targets they can get. (It had been strange at times to play _partners_ in that sense of the word, but they're professionals and they'd put their personal feelings aside for the job. Mostly.)

It's all routine, that is, except for the fact that someone is pointing a gun at her partner's head.

"Kensi," Deeks says calmly, giving up on their aliases since it's very obvious they've just been made (the dead giveaway had been when the gun-wielding bad guy had used their actual names, but there were more subtle signs before that), "take the shot."

Her finger brushes against the trigger, but she shakes her head. The sights are pointed at the bad guy – a big brute of a thing, all brawn and no brains, but he has just enough intelligence to hold and point his gun… and probably shoot it, too.

"If I take the shot," Kensi replies, equally calmly, "you're dead."

"Kens," he says again, this time with a hint of panic in his voice, "take it."

She thinks at first that he's concerned about the mission, knowing that if they take this guy out they might be able to salvage the operation. But in the split second before she makes her decision, she sees what he's really worried about: her.

Slowly, she lowers the gun. The bad guy makes some inane comment about her having made the right choice, but Kensi keeps her eyes locked with Deeks' as she unloads her gun and then slides it across the floor of the warehouse. There's an opening coming up, and both agents are aware of it. If the bad guy picks up the gun, his attention will waver just enough for Deeks to act. It's their best, if not only, chance.

Deeks is kneeling on the ground, his hands on his head as instructed, but his expression makes it clear that despite all signs to the contrary he's not actually surrendering.

A door opens and two more guys come in, and both agents simultaneously realize that they've missed their opportunity. Kensi and Deeks can both hold their own, but not in a fight like this. They're unarmed, running on five hours' sleep between them, and more concerned for each other's safety than perhaps they should be. They share a look, make their call, and by unanimous unspoken agreement decide to go quietly.

 _Logic, Kensi._ If it was just her against the two newcomers she might take the chance, but she can't fight back when Deeks is in such a vulnerable state. So she grits her teeth as her hands are cuffed behind her and then as she's nudged forward to where Deeks is. The original bad guy hauls him to his feet and the two agents share another look.

"The boss isn't gonna like this," the original bad guy, a bear-like guy wearing a plaid shirt, says. "We were only supposed to take one of them."

"Well that settles it then," Deeks says with fake cheerfulness. "You let her go and then the rest of us will be on our way."

"Shut up," growls the guy who's still holding Kensi's arm in a vice-like grip; he's of slighter build, kind of wiry but in a way that suggests that what he lacks in strength he makes up for in other ways, like he's much more capable than his ripped jeans and day-old stubble would have them believe.

"Really, you wouldn't want to take her anyway." Deeks ignores Kensi's warning look and keeps chattering, trying to draw attention to himself. "She'd be a terrible hostage. She never shuts up, and -"

Before either of them can react, Ripped Jeans backhands Kensi across the face. She squeezes her eyes shut against the pain, trying not to show any weakness in front of her captors.

Deeks drops his playful act at once, the sight of Kensi's pain enough to push him into protective mode. "If you hurt her again -" he begins in his most threatening voice – which is a lot more intimidating than the Labrador that Kensi likes to joke he is.

"If you shut up and do what you're told," Ripped Jeans growls, "I won't have to."

The detective falls silent, but while the bad guys discuss their plans he catches Kensi's eye and mouths _I'm sorry_. She shrugs, letting him know it's okay. He was just trying to help, and she gets that; she just kind of wishes he could do it in a less Deeks-like way.

In a matter of minutes they've both been searched, their phones confiscated and wires discovered. They've lost any chance of trying to convince their captors that they're not federal agents, but that had been a long shot anyway. Kensi can't remember a time when the "I'm not a federal agent, you must have gotten your wires crossed" routine has actually worked. And even though Deeks isn't _technically_ a federal agent, being a detective is probably just as bad in this scenario.

As they're hustled toward a waiting van, Deeks catches Kensi's eye, trying to be reassuring. Of course the effect would be a lot greater if not for one key fact: they both know that their team doesn't know where they are. They haven't checked in today, and with their phones gone and their wires destroyed, they have no way of contacting them. Nobody knows where they are.

They reach the van and Kensi starts to say something, to ask where they're going or what they want from them, but before she can she feels a sharp prick in her neck. Deeks has maybe half a second to register her shocked expression before he too feels the sting of the needle, and then half a minute later they both slump into the arms of their captors, unable to resist the poison coursing through their bodies.

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"No." Deeks' eyes are wide, pleading, desperate. "Please tell me that's not true."

Kensi raises her eyebrows. "Oh, it's true," she says.

Deeks groans, leaning forward as far as his restraints will allow. He's currently handcuffed to a pipe behind him, with Kensi in a similar position slightly to his right. He shoots her a sideways look, grimacing. "You're lying." His tone is part hopeful, part disbelieving.

Kensi starts to hold her hands up in a gesture of "what can I tell you, it's the truth" before remembering that she is, in fact, handcuffed to a metal pipe. So she shrugs instead and says, "You, my fearless partner, _yelped_ when they gave you that needle." Playing on the horror that shoots through Deeks' eyes, she amends, "Actually, it wasn't really a yelp. That's giving you too much credit. It was more like… a squeak."

The detective groans again, dejected. "My life is over."

Kensi snickers. "You know, it was kind of cute. Like when you tread on a cat's tail and you feel so bad about it you want to hug them."

At this Deeks looks up, the mock horror in his eyes replaced by something more playful. "Are you saying that you wanted to hug me?" He grins, and she knows she just walked right into this. "Hey, Kensalina, if you ever get that urge again you don't need to hide it, just go right ahead and -"

His sentence cuts off abruptly as the door opens, and in comes Ripped Jeans, closely followed by Plaid Shirt. The former is scowling, while the latter seems slightly abashed. Kensi glances over at Deeks, the same thought occurring to both of them: Ripped Jeans is in charge, making Plaid Shirt the weak link.

"Here's the thing," Ripped Jeans says, stopping a few feet in front of them and then beginning to pace, glancing up at his captives every few steps as if to make sure they haven't disappeared. "We were only supposed to take one of you, which puts us in a bit of a pickle. But luckily for us, we have a couple options." He stops pacing and looks over at Plaid Shirt, who takes over the conversation – seemingly reluctantly.

"Number one," says Plaid Shirt, and Ripped Jeans holds up one finger (causing Deeks to idly wonder whether Plaid Shirt even knows how to count), "we kill both of you and call it a day. Or number two," he goes on before they can react, with his friend holding up another finger, "we kill one of you and get the information from the other one."

"So what'll it be?" Ripped Jeans asks, smirking as if he'd actually come up with an ingenious masterplan.

"I'm going to go with door number three," Deeks says before Kensi can respond. He doesn't look at her as he speaks, and she recognizes that for what it is: he's trying to keep the focus on him, to stop their captors from paying attention to her. "You let both of us go, and our agency doesn't come bursting through the door armed to the teeth and looking for revenge against the guys who took two of their own."

Ripped Jeans pauses, seemingly surprised by Deeks' audacity, but Plaid Shirt doesn't even flinch. If anything he almost seems like he _wants_ NCIS to break down the doors. Kensi doesn't blame him; it may be better than continuing to work with his partner, whose scowl is more discouraging even than Granger's.

"Hm." Ripped Jeans tries to sound dismissive, but Deeks can see he hit a nerve. Their captors want to make it out of this alive, which could be a good bargaining chip. Survival instinct can go a long way in negotiating. He looks at Deeks, then at Kensi, and finally turns to his friend, gestures to him to follow, and then retreats to the far side of the room – which is quite a distance away, considering that as far as Deeks and Kensi can tell they're in some kind of cellar.

The two guys start talking, too quietly for it to travel across the room, but Kensi watches them intently. Deeks, meanwhile, is watching Kensi.

"Can you read them?" he asks quietly after a few moments.

Kensi frowns, not answering until there's a break in the conversation between the two guys. Then, without looking at her partner, she says, "Yeah." A beat, and then, "They're talking about what to do with us."

Something in Kensi's voice makes Deeks shiver involuntarily. Falling back on his characteristic defense mechanism, he says, "What have they decided? Something good, right? I'm sensing a three course meal in our future, maybe at a nice restaurant by the seaside -"

" _Deeks_ ," Kensi interrupts softly, the catch in her voice enough to cause him to fall silent at once. "They're talking about which one of us they're going to torture first."

They both fall silent, while Ripped Jeans and Plaid Shirt keep arguing. Kensi doesn't relay their messages, and Deeks doesn't ask. Finally the two guys leave, and the two agents let the reality of their situation sink in.

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 **I'd love to hear from you all, so feel free to review, PM, follow me on Tumblr (shadowstakeall), whatever. Bye for now!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Lord alive, guys, that's the warmest welcome to a fandom I've ever had. Thank you all so much. Shoutouts to the Guest who got the "take the shot" parallel, and to ethereal skies for your comment on everyone being in character (I was a little nervous about not having written Deeks up to standard).**

 **So, here's the second half of the two-shot. After this chapter the story will be _complete_ and will not be continued. That said, I do have some other WIPs, and I'll talk about those at the end of this chapter because I would love some feedback.**

 **I won't keep you waiting, though. Thanks again, everyone, and enjoy the conclusion to my first NCIS: LA fic.**

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It's a tactic very familiar to both Kensi and Deeks. Their captors have left them alone for a long time, over an hour, which is a classic technique designed to increase their anxiety and maybe even turn them against each other. And it might be effective, if not for the fact that they're both seasoned federal agents and have been (both individually and collectively) in far worse situations than this. (They're in trouble, but they're professionals, and they can handle this. Probably.)

Finally, they return. This time it's not just Ripped Jeans and Plaid Shirt but one of the other guys, a quietly intimidating bald guy with glasses and – of all things – a tattoo of a flower curling up one arm. Their dynamic seems to have shifted; they're more focused, more deliberate. Like they've made up their minds.

"Here's how it's gonna go," Ripped Jeans says as he gets close enough for them to hear him. "We're going to interrogate one of you now, and the other one after that. And after we're done with that, we're going to kill both of you." He flashes them a bright, sharp smile. "So who wants to go first?"

Deeks snorts. "When you put it like that, how could anyone say no? Where do I sign up?"

"Perfect," Kensi says to her partner, not waiting for Ripped Jeans to react. "You get to be the hero, and what do I tell our team when I'm unscathed and you're being shipped off to hospital missing several pieces of your anatomy?"

The detective goes pale. "They wouldn't – I mean, not even these guys would cut off my -"

" _Fingers_ , Deeks," Kensi says, rolling her eyes, "I'm talking about your _fingers_. If these guys are pros, that's probably what they'll start with."

"Really?" Deeks shakes his hair out of his face – unable to do his usual 'swipe his hand across his forehead in a deliberately casual way' – and looks at their captors. "I didn't take these guys for pros. I figured they'd probably start with something lame, like electrocution."

"Hey -" Plaid Shirt starts, but Kensi talks over the top of him.

"I don't take these guys for the electrocution type," she says, giving them a dismissive look before turning back to her partner. "Waterboarding, maybe, but even that would probably take more brainpower than the three of them have put together."

"It's not just the three of us -" Plaid Shirt says indignantly, but Ripped Jeans silences him with a look.

"All right, I'll give you waterboarding," Deeks concedes, "but I think they'd start with something a little less intense."

"Like what?" Kensi asks. "A few threats, some blackmail?"

"Oh, not even these guys would be dull enough to just _threaten_ us," Deeks says. "Even Plaid Shirt over here looks like he's bright enough to realize that's not going to work."

"You sure?" Kensi asks dubiously. "He doesn't look like he can even string a sentence together."

"Hey," Plaid Shirt interrupts indignantly. "I can -"

"Shut _up_ ," Ripped Jeans interrupts. When Plaid Shirt scowls, he goes on, "Just get out of here. Go make sure things are set up in the other room."

Plaid Shirt scowls at the two captives, but complies. Kensi and Deeks share a quick look, too subtle for the two guys in front of them to notice but just clear enough for them to convey their triumph: their plan is working.

"So what _is_ the plan, then, fellas?" Deeks asks, directly addressing their captors for the first time in several minutes. "Little bit of torture before lunch, then you all head off to the local bar for a celebratory appletini?"

Refusing to rise to his antagonism, Ripped Jeans just grins. "Basically," he says, "but you're forgetting the part where we also kill both of you."

"You know what?" Kensi interrupts, doing her best to seem nonchalant. "This is taking too long, all because my partner can _not_ figure out when to keep his mouth shut." She pauses, looking at Deeks and then back at Ripped Jeans, and then announces, "You can start with him."

"Woah," Deeks says, startled, his gaze flicking between his partner and his captor. "Hey, no, I didn't agree to that -"

"Well, I agreed to it for you," Kensi says, still apparently unruffled.

Deeks glares at her. "Fine, I'll go," he says, "but only because I'm _volunteering._ That way I'm a freaking _hero_ , not some sacrificial lamb with beautiful blue eyes and majestic hair."

"If you're fishing for compliments," Kensi says wearily, "then you might want to use some better bait."

Before Deeks can respond, Ripped Jeans speaks. "This is lovely and all, but we're kind of under a time pressure here."

"Don't let us keep you," Deeks says mildly. "Wouldn't want you to miss your lunch."

Ripped Jeans rolls his eyes, then gestures to Flower, who starts to make his way over to the detective. Apparently the game is over, and their captors have had enough for their banter (adorable though it had always seemed to the two agents involved – and their team, although none of them would admit it).

"Come on then, hero," Flower says gruffly, bending down to unchain Deeks' wrists.

Deeks tenses, knowing it's almost time to act, but then Ripped Jeans clears his throat. "Wait," says their captor. "On second thought, take the girl."

The detective shoots a panicked look at his partner, who, of course, shows absolutely no sign of fear – except for the tiniest flicker in her eyes, too quick for anyone but Deeks to notice, too subtle for anyone else to care. Flower moves away from Deeks, turning his attention to Kensi, while Ripped Jeans looks on from a distance. And although Kensi doesn't _look_ scared, she definitely _feels_ it. Both agents have been tortured before – Deeks at the hands of Sidorov, Kensi in Afghanistan – and neither wants to experience it again. But, more than that, neither one wants to see the _other_ experience it again.

So Kensi grits her teeth again as Flower uncuffs her and hauls her unceremoniously to her feet, so quickly she almost loses her balance. As Flower leads her across the room, Kensi deliberately avoids Deeks' eyes; she doesn't want to see the fear, the concern, the guilt. She knows he wishes that it was him being taken, and she doesn't need his expression to tell her that.

She also doesn't need him to tell her when to act, because she gets her chance almost instantly: Flower looks over to Ripped Jeans for confirmation, diverting his attention at exactly the right moment. Kensi acts almost instinctively, responding to muscle memory of every fight she's ever been in. A well-timed punch to Flower's jaw makes him stumble, and she uses that momentum to push him as hard as she can – straight into Ripped Jeans. That moment of shock is all she needs in order to disarm Ripped Jeans (the only one who was armed; he was obviously in charge and didn't trust anyone else).

"On the ground," she instructs, stepping back and pointing the gun at Ripped Jeans in one fluid movement. His mouth tilts downward, ever so slightly, at exactly the same moment that Kensi realizes something's wrong. As he opens his mouth to speak she lands a quick elbow to his temple, enough to knock him out cold. " _On the ground_ ," she repeats more forcefully, and Flower, who'd been watching wide-eyed and silent, complies.

While Kensi and Deeks had been bantering earlier, they had also been evaluating – trying to test for weaknesses, look for escape routes, anything that could help. Which is why Kensi knows where to find rope (in the far corner, scattered among several toolboxes and some wooden crates) and the keys to the handcuffs (attached to Ripped Jeans' belt).

"Not that I don't love seeing you in action," Deeks says as Kensi uncuffs him, "but why'd you clock that guy? I really think that you being the only person with a weapon kind of gives you the upper hand without you having to… emasculate him."

Kensi pulls Deeks to his feet, tucking the gun into her belt – a force of habit rather than due to any actual need. "It would be," she says as she leads the way toward the door, keeping an eye on Ripped Jeans and Flower to make sure they don't have any tricks up their sleeves, "if the gun was loaded."

Deeks raises his eyebrows, casting Ripped Jeans a look that's half amusement, half admiration. "Really?" he asks. "You kept your guys in line with an _unloaded_ gun?" He pauses, a thought occurring to him. "Maybe that's what Hetty does, you know? Her weapons cabinet's probably full of exotic tea or something."

"No," Kensi says absently, leaning toward the door to try to hear what's going on outside it (all the while wondering whether the guns that had been pointed at them earlier had been unloaded too, if all of this had been a ruse they'd fallen for hook, line, and sinker), "I've seen her weapons cabinet. It's full of weapons."

"Huh." Deeks pauses again, steeling himself for the fight he knows is coming – there's at least two other guys out there, and he and Kensi have no hope of backup. "Well, it's not like she needs weapons anyway. If looks could kill we'd all be out of a job – nobody would be gusty enough to commit a crime with the Duchess of Deception exactly one look away from executing them herself."

"Speaking of weapons," Kensi says tensely, pulling away from the door to look at her partner, "we have exactly none."

Deeks cocks his head, his gaze drifting between the two guys on the floor and the locked door ahead of them. "Good point," he muses. Then he looks at Kensi and jerks his head toward the door. "You go first."

"What?" Kensi's tone is part disbelief and part indignation, and if her arms weren't so sore from being cuffed behind her she would back her words up with a well-aimed punch to Deeks' shoulder. "I'm not going first. You go first."

After a brief pause, Deeks narrows his eyes. "Rock Paper Scissors?" he suggests.

Deeks picks rock, Kensi picks paper, and subsequently it's the detective who takes point. They pause, flanking the door, and put aside their banter for long enough to escape.

They're professionals, after all.

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 **So, what'd you all think? I know it was short, but it was always meant to be. Like I said, this was just a bit of fun, a test run if you will. But now this story is over, I'm going to be working on another one (or two). And I need your help. I'm going to outline my two WIPs, and I'd love to hear two things: first, which one you'd most like to see, and second, what you'd like to see in it (themes, scenes, characters, ideas, etc). Here goes. (Bear in mind that both stories will have a lot of Kensi/Nell friendship and probably some side Neric as well.)**

 **A. "if she ran away" - a hurt/comfort fic in which Kensi is hurt and Deeks does the comforting. Kensi shows up after being missing for almost a month, but she's definitely not herself - and she's not letting anyone in. Reluctantly she allows Nell to help her, but remains adamant that she doesn't need Deeks' help. And Deeks, meanwhile, is equally convinced that he just needs to find the right way to support her.**

 **B. "don't find me" - Deeks goes missing, but not before he manages to get a message to his partner. So Kensi, accompanied by Nell, embarks on a dangerous scavenger hunt to collect Deeks' clues, following his trail across the city. But as the clues become more cryptic and time starts to run out, Kensi realizes that maybe she doesn't know her partner as well as she thought she did.**

 **And, that's it. I'd love to hear your thoughts, so feel free to review, PM, ask on Tumblr, whatever. I'll try to take any and all suggestions into account when I'm writing. Thanks again for supporting this story, and I hope to see you all again soon!**


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